I think I found the answer to my question...I was planning on using our broadcast spreader to reseed, but I really need to rent a verticutter/slitseeder to make sure the grass seed makes contact with the soil.

Being that it rained, it's actually a good thing.

I'm off to the rental company!

Even if still wet, the seed will wash down to the soil at the next irrigation or rainfall. No problems there.

Now remember to water twice a day until sprout (up to 4 weeks if you have bluegrass in the mix) and you're golden.

Contrary to popular opinion, seeds don't require fertilization for their first month of life (after that, it should be gentle through the end of the season).

Hold the fert for a month, then apply it at half the recommended rate. Two weeks later, follow up with the other half.

For now, the Kow manure will be just fine assuming it's fully composted ("hot" or fresh manure should never be used). If it doesn't smell like...well, manure...or otherwise foul, nasty, or ammonia-like, it's good to go. Over time, the composted manure will very gently release a small amount of nutrients for the plants.

Is that Black Kow composted manure? If so I really like that stuff...except it contains sand as a filler. They might deny that but the broken bag I saw at Lowes sure did have some quartzy looking particles in it. Would be interesting to drop a handful into a glass of water and see what sinks to the bottom. Sand will fall out immediately while compost should all float. But if you can stand a slight bit of sand, then I liked it.

If it is actual manure, uncomposted, then it should remain at the store. I would never use real manure anywhere except in a compost pile and I would not pay for that manure.

The reason new seed doesn't need fertilizer is that to comes with built in nutrients. Furthermore, fertilizer is always taken up by the roots. If you don't have any roots, then there's no transference taking place. When the grass is tall enough to be mowed, then you can be sure your roots are healthy enough to fertilize.

If you have any qualms about fertilizing too much, then use organic fertilizer. You cannot fertilize too much with that because it is a biological fertilizer rather than a chemical fertilizer. The fertilizer effect comes from interaction between the plants and soil microbes. That relationship has been in effect for billions of years. All the bugs have been worked out, so you really cannot overdo it with today's organic fertilizers.

(pedant on)

>>That relationship has been in effect for billions of years

Plants invaded land definitely during the Lower Silurian period, possibly the Ordovician. That's about 425-450 million years, perhaps a hair longer.

It's reasonable to assume that the associations developed very, very quickly from the bacteria and fungi that consumed dead plant material. Some percentage of the web is still decomposers today that enjoy the dead cells sloughed off of roots.

The roots of most sea plants are rudimentary and structural, more to hold the plant in place than anything else. Resources are supplied via foliar absorption, which still works today (although at a much reduced level on land plants).

(pedant off)

...see! Billions of years ;-)

Hundreds of millions, at the least. :-) Since we're talking trillions of bacterial generations, that's more than sufficient time for selection to nudge the associations toward, at the minimum, local optima.

Your argument still stands, hence the (pedant) note. The point is only of intellectual interest.